Have you ever heard of Post-It prayers? The idea is not so different from what devout Jewish men and women do at the Western Wall, or Kotel, in Jerusalem. People from all over the world—including U.S. presidents and European prime ministers—have visited the holy site, the only remaining part of the temple complex built by Herod the Great on Mount Zion. People stand before the massive granite stones of that wall and pray. Many insert folded or rolled scraps of paper—with names or written prayers on them—into the cracks and crannies of the wall. Most people stay a few minutes, praying, but the prayer notes—more than a million every year—remain in the wall until, twice a year, they are collected and reverently buried on the nearby Mount of Olives.
Some friends of mine do something similar with the sticky notes that are sold in most office-supply stores. Sherry, a schoolteacher from Ohio, says she uses sticky notes to pray for others, writing a prayer on a note and then posting it on a fellow teacher’s desk, a friend’s front door, her son’s book bag, etc.
Sue, from Pennsylvania, says, “Our pastor’s wife sticks Post-It notes on her computer at work. Every time someone asks for prayer (via Facebook or email), she writes it on a sticky and puts it on her computer and then prays for each one throughout the day.” The notes stay on the computer monitor until each prayer is answered or until she can’t see her screen anymore.
Auggie, from Ohio, slaps sticky-note-prayers on surfaces around her bedroom. “I do it so I remember who I’ve promised to pray for.” She writes the actual words of her prayer on the note so she can not only remember what to pray but can also pray it again with just a glance, in a moment.
Florida resident Sharon says, “During a particularly discouraging time, I wrote Psalm 34:10 on two Post-Its and hung one on the refrigerator and one on the bathroom mirror. It prompted me to pray in agreement with the Word: ‘Lord, I believe You provide for me. Your Word says that if I seek You I will lack no good thing. I’m seeking You and I’m seeking Your kingdom. And I’m trusting that all other things needed will be added unto me. Increase my faith and let me walk in Your peace.’”
They’re just pieces of paper, but whether they are crammed into a crack in the Western Wall or posted on a bathroom mirror, they can be a helpful way to pause. A way to remember. A way to pray.
